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The mission of Contract and Grant Administration is to preserve and protect the university's research reputation through fiscal compliance, financial accountability, and proactive customer service and to build a foundation for the future growth of research. 

Working closely with Research and Sponsored Programs at IUPUI and Sponsored Research Services in Bloomington, we serve IU faculty and research administrators for all post award functions, for all campuses.  To accomplish this task, we provide the services summarized below.  

• ACCOUNT OPERATIONAL SERVICES
• REPORTING SERVICES
• ANALYSIS SERVICES
• CONSULTING AND TRAINING SERVICES

Contract and Grant Administration (C&G) provides operational services for all contract and grant accounts. These services include but are not limited to the setting up and maintenance of the accounts, budgets, subcontracts, facilities and administrative costs (F&A), as well as the tracking of cost share and matching funds. 

Account Set-Up and Maintenance ...
C&G financial administrators create new account numbers as new awards are routed to us from the respective research office. Agency regulations and restrictions are reviewed to establish elements of cost and account guidelines. This account information is defined for each contract or grant account and sub-account in the Financial Information System (FIS). C&G initiates changes to the account as guidelines or contract provisions require. We take very seriously our responsibility to ensure the integrity of the data of contract and grant accounts. This is important for internal Indiana University reporting as well as agency and audit purposes.

Budget Set-Up and Maintenance ...
C&G analyzes the budget information in the award. Discrepancies that exist in the budget are clarified with the department and agency. The budget is established in the FIS system. C&G approves budget changes within award and agency guidelines and initiates budget adjustments as authorized by the agency.

Subcontractor Set-Up and Maintenance ...
If an award contains a budget line for the subcontracting of funds to other entities, C&G negotiates the terms and prepares the subcontract document for Bloomington and regional campus accounts.  C&G serves as the liaison in the signature and approval process. All subcontracts are incorporated into the award agreement and monitored in the FIS.  

Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Cost Set-Up and Maintenance ...
All new and supplementary awards are analyzed to ensure that proper F&A rates have been awarded. C&G initiates any required change to the F&A rate in the FIS as the IU negotiated F&A rates change or as dictated by the award. This ensures that F&A costs are being properly applied to the account. All adjustments of F&A to an account are initiated and approved by C&G.

Cost Share and Matching ...
All new awards are analyzed to determine if cost share and matching funds are components of the award. Departments identify cost share source accounts and C&G establishes cost share sub-accounts to track the expenditures.  C&G reports cost share and matching funds as required by the conditions of the award.

Account Closing and Archiving ...
C&G is responsible for preparing financial reports or billings as required by the award as well as any required invention, patent, or equipment reports. C&G works with departmental staff to ensure that all transactions are charged to the appropriate account. Account Manager’s are required to sign approval of the final financial report/billing to confirm the acceptance of the final cumulative expense amount. Overdrafts are covered, unexpended funds are allocated, and ledger corrections are completed by C&G and Account Managers. On completion of all financial documents, the account is brought to a zero balance in the FIS and is closed.  No activity can occur on closed accounts.  All files are archived for a period of seven years.

Agency Reporting ...
IU receives contract and grant funds from both federal and non-federal agencies. Specific reports, billings, and claims are required by agencies and defined in the award agreement. Reporting time frames range from a few days to 90 days after the expiration date of the award.

IU Reporting ...
IU requires the reporting of information at several levels. Reports are required on F&A costs, organizations, agencies, project directors, and departments. This information is made available by Financial Management Services (FMS) in Financial Data Retrieval System on the Web where you are given the option to import data into spreadsheet and word processing applications.

Accounts Receivable ...
C&G is responsible for depositing funds. Some federal agencies use line of credit funding. C&G establishes a line of credit and requests funds electronically from the agency. When the transaction is approved, funds are transferred through the Federal Reserve to a designated university account. C&G then transfers the funds into the appropriate account.

Collections ...
C&G is responsible for collecting funds after agencies are billed. After a receivable has aged for 90 days, the agency is contacted about the delinquent payment. Contacts including phone calls, letters, duplicate billings and faxes are made until the account is paid.

C&G provides analysis, problem solving, and information services. Transactions on C&G accounts must pass basic considerations as stated in Federal OMB Circular A-21.  Are the costs allocable, allowable and reasonable?  The analysis is three tiered; has the expenditure incurred within the award timeframe, is the transaction within budget guidelines, and is the transaction within IU policy and agency guidelines. The strictest rule is applied when conflicts or ambiguities exist between IU and agency policies.

Agency Timeframes ...
The project term and reporting timeframe are set by the award agreement. These limits are strict but may be extended by an amendment.

Agency Guidelines ...
C&G accounts are administered within agency guidelines. These guidelines impact budgets, expenditures, equipment, travel, carryover of funds, and allowable costs. Links to major agencies are offered by C&G on the Web.

Budget Guidelines ...
The awarded budget and agency guidelines control the project budget. Some agencies allow rebudgeting between line items without prior approval. Other agencies are very strict, requiring the project director to obtain approval prior to making budget revisions.

IU Policies ...
All contract and grant accounts must follow IU policies as well as agency guidelines. IU Institutional Policies cover accounting administration, budget administration, contract and grant administration, payroll administration, travel, the treasurer's office and other related policies including purchasing and personnel.  IU Policies are posted on the FMS website.

Internal Controls/Monitoring/Oversight ...
C&G has established internal controls and tools to administer and oversee contract and grant accounts. C&G designs and implements reports that identify defined transactions. These reports, transaction processing guidelines and FMS procedures, support C&G in providing internal control and oversight services. Electronic routing also allows C&G to monitor account transactions.

C&G provides training for new awards and account managers, FIS functions, and account management tools. C&G provide information and interpretation on federal and non-federal agencies and guidelines. C&G serves as the focal point for both state and federal audits conducted on contracts and grants.

Liaison with agencies ...
The C&G website maintains links to updated rules and regulations of major funding agencies. C&G managers serve as fact-finders and liaisons with agencies. The managers will contact the agencies for clarification on global issues and policies. C&G financial administrators will contact the agency if there is a problem with a specific award. The staff is involved in negotiating the re-budgeting of existing awards with agencies. C&G works with the departments and agencies in establishing no-cost time extensions and carryover of funds on existing awards. C&G also ensures the completeness of transfers of awards to and from other universities.

Interpretation of Agency Guidelines ...
C&G is responsible for the interpretation of agency guidelines and IU policies. Each federal and non-federal agency has a set of guidelines that must be adhered to when administering a contract or grant. C&G assists the departmental staff in understanding the grant specific guidelines that are applicable to a specific award. These regulations impact budgets, expenditures, equipment, travel, carryover of funds, allowable costs, etc. 

New Award First Visit ...
When a new contract or grant is awarded to a new project director or account manager, C&G staff will come to the department for a first visit meeting, if requested. C&G will train and inform the new personnel involved on the award of guidelines, agency regulations, and IU policies impacting their award. This meeting will also be set up when a project director or account manager receives an award from a new agency that they have never dealt with before. A first visit meeting will also be conducted for an award that contains excessive restrictions, guidelines, or that has unusual reporting requirements. 

Other Departmental Visits ...
Although C&G is located on the Bloomington campus, a C&G manager is usually on the IUPUI campus each week in meetings with departments on current issues and providing training.  Just call if you would like us to stop by your office.

FIS Training in Relationship to Contracts and Grants ...
When new features are added to the FIS that specifically impact contracts and grants, training will be provided to the departmental personnel on those features. Training will also be provided on how to query for specific information in the FIS that may be particularly helpful to the research administrators.

Account Management ...
C&G and FMS have implemented account management tools to help guide those individuals in managing their accounts. C&G will assist departments in understanding operating statements and other monthly reports which provide the framework for the accounts.  Check out the "Project Director (PD) Reports" located on the web at https://fdrs.fms.indiana.edu/cgi-bin/pdw/Welcome.pl.  PD Reports provide assistance for project directors and research administrators who just want to know  --- "What is the bottom line today?".  This tool offers basic summary financial and award information such as:

• What is the award history?     (proposals awarded)
• What is the status of the account?     (active, expired, or closed)
• What is the balance?    (updated nightly)
• Where has the money gone?    (drill down into the expenditures)
• What is the burn rate?    (shows the number of months remaining until expiration and the suggested monthly expenditure rate)

Annual Federal Audit ...
C&G coordinates the annual Federal OMB Circular A-133 audit. The C&G A-133 audit manager prepares necessary information in the format required by the State Board of Accounts and serves as liaison through the nine month audit process until the final exit meeting with IU senior management and the auditors.  

Ad Hoc Audits ...
C&G staff obtain documentation from the departments or files as requested by an auditor. The staff ensures that the auditor understands the IU financial system and answers questions regarding internal controls and procedures.  C&G staff act as a liaison between departments and the auditor.  Senior management is informed of any audit findings and any major problems that have occurred during the audit.

Research Administrator Teams (RAT) ...
C&G, in collaboration with the research offices, holds periodic informational meetings with research administrators representing the major research departments on the Bloomington and IUPUI campuses.  These meetings usually held quarterly, bring to the table issues on pre and post award activities at IU.